Climate Camp

Thousands of green activists are descending on Blackheath in south-east London for this summer's Climate Camp after being sent on a wild goose chase around London by cryptic text messages sent out by the camp's organisers.

Environmental protesters at seven "swoop" locations dotted around central London had been directed to wait for text messages at noon revealing the secret location. At 12.30 at least three groups received messages to move but their final destination was not initially confirmed.

Rumours spread on Twitter and blogs that the end point for the swoop might be City airport or Hackney Marshes but it became increasingly obvious that the final location would be to the east of the city. Some people have started to arrive at Blackheath but none of the groups had made it by 2.30pm.

At 12.30 the brown/white group were told: "Head north over London bridge and take a tour of the city! Please stay together and keep it slow," while the group of cyclists at Waterloo were told to head for London Bridge. A third group at St James's Square were told to head to Trafalgar Square.

Organisers of the camp were reluctant to reveal the location until the first day because they feared that police might stop the event from going ahead. The Metropolitan police have promised not to use heavy-handed tactics but have criticised Climate Camp for not cooperating with them over the location.

Senior officers have held five meetings with protesters to prepare for the event, which has been promoted on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, saying they intend to use "community-style" policing to avoid a repetition of their controversial handling of protests during the G20 summit.

The Met has activated its own Twitter account, CO11MetPolice, to spread information on its operation. Climate Camp reacted by releasing a video condemning police tactics. The voiceover said: "Judging from past experience the best thing the police could do to ensure the health and safety of Climate Camp in 2009 would be to stay as far away from it as possible."

The seven "swoop" locations where activists have gathered have been chosen because of their significance to climate change or deaths linked to police action. One group gathered at Stockwell tube station, the site of the shooting by police of Jean Charles de Menezes. Another group gathered in Threadneedle Street, near the spot where the newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson collapsed and died after being struck by a police officer during the G20 demonstrations in April.

Today police said that everyone attending the protest would be photographed for their records. In a national opinion poll commissioned by the charity Christian Aid this week, 33% of people said that recording protesters was a breach of their privacy, while 18% said they had been put off going to environmental protests by police tactics.

The camp is planned to run until 2 September and organisers say that attendees will meet to discuss climate change, learn how to live more sustainably and undergo training for direct action. There are also rumours that 20 targets in London have been discussed for potential direct action.